The Science Project
by love.always.forever.1335
Summary: TMNT AU - Leo, Don, Raph and Mikey are human. And not brothers who have to learn to get along in order to complete a science project.
1. Chapter 1

My name is Leonardo, but all my friends just call me Leo. I'm a high school student, and my grades aren't the best, but I manage. I mean, I have to maintain at least a C- in all my classes to stay on the football team. And the baseball team. And the wresting team. So I play a lot of sports. I have to keep in shape somehow. And with all the different practices and scrimmages and games, I have like no time to go to the gym.

The only thing I have time for is school, which, I don't particularly enjoy. There are too many classes and too much to worry about. I don't really care about math and science and everything else I'm forced to learn. It's a waste of my limited time. And then after all my practices, I have to spend the rest of my night doing homework. Then to sleep, and I have to repeat the whole thing over again. I have no time to hang out with my friends, and my relationships never last because I run out of time to spend with girls.

Life as a teenager is pretty stressful; I'm not sure how everyone else manages. But I do know that I'm about ready to kill over. I have huge research papers to do, maps to memorize, math to understand along with all my sports practices. I don't know how some people have a social life. It's impossible for me. I've tried, and every time I do, I end up failing my classes. It's like a win and loss system. I have to choose what's more important to me. Grades or friendships? Sports or sleep? There's no in between.

But at least I get to spend time in this dumb Chemistry classroom. Mrs. Vicci is choosing the groups for this huge experiment assignment thing, and I'm sitting here looking back and forth between my three best friends in this room, hoping she pairs us all together. There is no one else in this class I'd rather work with.

"This assignment will be due one month from today." Mrs. Vicci announced standing up from her desk. She started passing out packets that explained the assignment. There was like 30 pages or something very close to that. I started to skim through it. It looks like we have to experiment and research something, do a write-up, then explain our experiment to the rest of the class using PowerPoints and pictures and demonstrations and stuff. She was explaining in more detail in front of the classroom, but I wasn't exactly listening. Her high pitched voice annoyed me, so I'd learned to tune her out. When I tuned her back in, she was announcing the groups…kinda. "The groups were randomly drawn and are not up for discussion. I will be posting a paper on the door at the end of class that lists your groups. Tomorrow, when you come into class, please sit with your groups. Now, let's start today's lesson. Please open your text books to page…" And I tuned her out again.

Randomly assigned and not up for discussion. Usually, that means she knows that someone isn't going to like their group. I started thinking of my worst case scenario group. I looked around the classroom to spot the people I'd be least thrilled to work with. Before I knew it, class was over. As the bell rang, everyone ran to the door to see who their project partners would be. I hurried along with everyone else, my popularity putting me before some of the other…less popular…kids in the class. I saw my name grouped with three other guys. That's good, at least their guys. There will be no girly distraction. I looked again. Mike, Don, and Raph.

I scribbled the names on my inner forearm and walked off to my next class. I sighed, knowing that my group was the reason it was not up for discussion. These were not my friends. I'd actually never talked to any of them in my life. Not that I remember anyways. I did know a little bit about them, though. And it worried me more about working with them.

Mike. A short blonde hippie. He sits in the back of the class trying to get away with whatever he can. Sometimes, when it's really quiet in the room, you can hear his handheld portable videogame music in the back. Or his headphones aren't fully plugged in and his reggae music blast through the classroom. He's a typical skater kid hippie. I've heard rumors that he smokes weed like crazy. It wouldn't surprise me. He always seems high when he answers questions in class. He always talks about peace and unity and happiness and all this shit that high people talk about. He carries his skateboard everywhere and wears a Jamaican themed beanie all the time. I remember once he was riding on his skateboard down the street and ran into me and he just kept going like he hadn't just knocked me on my ass.

Don. The tall dark haired dork. He sits in the very front of the classroom, right behind Mrs. Vicci's desk. He blocks my view of the board with his hand raised all the time. He basically lives in the school. Every time I go to the school's library, he's there reading or using the computers or doing something. He raises his hand for every question, and even when the teacher doesn't call on him, he whispers the answer to the guy next to him. I was a little excited to work with him actually; maybe he would do all the work and let the rest of us put our names on it.

Raph. The spikey red-haired badass. His hair has more gel than you could imagine so it stands up stiff on end. He sits in the very back corner, when he's in class anyways. It seems that he has an in-school suspension every other day. He's always causing trouble in every class and getting in trouble like it's no big deal. He gets sent to the principal's office on a daily basis. I've heard that he and the principal are on a first name basis. He's been in and out of juvenile hall at least a hundred times since he was only 11-years-old. The rumors about him go on forever. I've heard he deals drugs, he's a thief, and he killed his parents and lives in their house alone. Okay, so I don't actually believe that last one, but I don't know anymore. I have to consider everything if I want to stay alive with this guy. To be totally honest, I'm not looking forward to working with him. He'll just slow us down.

I spent the rest of the day thinking about what the others are saying about me. What really is there to say? The quarterback of the football team, star wrestler, the best pitcher in the history of NYCHS. That's all there is to me. I'm in the in-crowd. My people start the rumors, so nothing goes around that I don't know about. And nothing goes around about me. There's nothing but good things to report.

After school, I went to football practice. My teammates were making fun of me because of who I was grouped with. I guess news travels faster than I had expected. Only then did I realize what spending time with these guys would do to my school reputation. A skateboarding stoner, a kiss-ass dork, and an irresponsible bad-ass. My reputation is out the window. I kept telling myself that after the project, I would never talk to them again. We would do our work, and then go our separate ways, never to speak to each other again.

I went home after my practices that night and read over the packet thoroughly. It didn't look that hard. Nothing Don wouldn't be able to talk us through, I assured myself. I started to think about how much time we would actually have to spend together. By the looks of the assignment, it would be quite some time. Especially because of that Don guy. He would want everything to go perfectly. Like a 0% error or whatever the proper chemistry term is. This could take longer than I'd hoped. At least it's a guaranteed A, an A that I really need at this point.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX The Next Day XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

I took a deep breath when I walked into my Chemistry class the next day. I looked at my friends paired with the cheerleader that tops the pyramid every time our team scores a touchdown. Then I looked to where Don, Raph, and Mike were sitting in the back of the classroom. I shuffled my feet slowly over to them, dropping my book bag down heavily and taking a seat.


	2. Chapter 2

The four of us sat there awkwardly staring at each other until the bell rang. I turned my attention to the front of the room, as I'm sure Don did also. Though I could still feel a pair of bold green eyes staring at the back of my head. I turned my head back to see Raph staring at not only me, but the three of us in quick sweeps of his head, not even giving the teacher an acknowledging glance.

Mrs. Vicci stood up from her desk and stood in the center of the classroom. "Nice to see you have all found your groups. Today will be your only in-class work day. You should use today to decide what kind of experiment you want to test, decide a hypothesis, and most importantly, decide where the rest of this discussion will occur. I will be hovering around the classroom during this period, to make sure you are all on task." She looked over at the group where my friends were. "Now, begin your discussion."

I turned my head back to look at my partners. With my notebook and pencil in hand, I stared at them, waiting for someone else to make the first move. Don looked like he had no intention to start the conversation. It was clear he was not where he belonged. He didn't want to admit it, but he was looking forward to this assignment. Maybe not his group, but the assignment.

"So, dudes. We gonna do this or what?" Mike spoke up first, looking cowardly around the table, knowing that both myself and Raph could easily take him out.

Raph smiled and put his feet up on the desk, "Wait, we're actually doing this. I thought Don here was gonna do the whole thing and let us sign our names." He put his arm around Don, clearly making him uncomfortable, and laughed. I guess I wasn't the only one thinking that…

Don was too bashful to say anything, but it was obvious that he was uncomfortable with Raph touching him. He mumbled some almost sentences: "Well, I. Maybe, I mean, I don't but I-if I…well not really." I got confused listening to him.

Mike again spoke up, "Hey, back off!" He interjected, throwing Raph's hand off Don's shoulder. "We are all going to do this, like partners. Don's not gonna do this whole thing by himself." Wow. This kid had guts…or maybe he was too high to realize who he was talking to. At this point, it's anyone's guess.

I saw anger start to fester up inside of Raph. I'd guessed he hadn't been told what to do very often, especially by someone smaller than him. He quickly took his feet off the desk and smashed his hands down, creating a loud crash that drew the attention of everyone in the room, though no one really cared. Raph did that all the time. "You really wanna mess with me, small fry?" he hissed between his teeth, staring directly into Mike's eyes with boiling rage.

Mike immediately leaned back in his seat, most likely feeling intimidated. Raph leaned back in his chair, setting his feet back on top of the desk. I looked up the clock on the wall. We still had 45 minutes of class left. I decided it was high time I took control of this. I wasn't afraid of Raph like Mike and Don were. I knew I could take him down if I needed to. "That's enough Raph." I pushed my hair out of my face, "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" I asked more rhetorically than literally.

Raph looked me over, "You mean like you, pretty boy?" He sneered, "What are you, a jock? Probably hopped up on steroids and shit. All that muscle you have, it ain't real. Just junk from bottles of God knows what that you inject in your body. Fucking moron. I could take you on any day."

So that's what people thought of jocks, we use steroids. I laughed a little, not really knowing what to say in response. I knew that I didn't use steroids, so what he said didn't really bother me. And I considered stooping to his level and throwing all his rumors at him, but I decided against it. I had to spend the next month with this guy, and I know he would never like me, but I'd really like it if he didn't hate me.

I sighed, "So this project. Anyone have any ideas." I grabbed my pencil in my hand again and held it in writing position.

Don cleared his throat and everyone at the table looked at him. He was partially hidden behind his huge binder. All we could see were his eyes. "I was thinking we could maybe do something with experimenting on different sources of energy. I mean, if that's okay with you guys, I guess." He practically whispered into his notes. He would clearly become the pushover of this group.

I started to feel bad for him. He was thrown into a group of people that he didn't belong with. And I knew that there was nothing I could do to make him less of a dork, but I wanted him to be comfortable since he's stuck here. I closed my notebook and put my pencil away. "You're name is Don right?" He nodded his head behind the binder, "Short for something?" I asked smiling.

"Donatello." He whispered, blushing deeply in his cheeks.

I nodded, "Cool. I'm Leo, short for Leonardo." I stuck my hand out in a friendly embrace.

Don was about to accept my hand when Raph scoffed, "What is this, Kindergarten? We need to introduce ourselves. What's next? Finger paints? Story time? Maybe show and tell?" He faked an obnoxious smile and started to laugh, only to return to his typical scowl seconds later.

Mike opened his mouth, "My real name is Michelangelo, but my friends just call me Mike, cuz it's a lot shorter and stuff." He shrugged, pulling off his beanie for a minute, running his fingers though his hair, and slipping the beanie back on.

Raph still looked unamused, "What's your name, Raph." I asked, assuming Raph was just his nickname. I gave him a slight smile to show that I wanted to cooperate with him, at least until the project's done. After we get an A on this project, he can hate my guts to the moon and back for all I care.

He looked down at the floor, his arms crossed, "What's it to ya?"

"It's just some friendly conversation. Just trying to get to know each other better is all." I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

"Yeah, well here's a news flash pretty boy. We aren't friends. We will never be friends. The four of us here. We don't belong together. It ain't ever gonna happen. These other two jokers may have fallen for your stupid little 'let's all be friends' trick, but I won't. After this project, you're going to drop them on their sorry asses and you know it." He pointed his finger accusingly at me.

I sighed, "Well what if I'm not?" I asked him.

"What if's don't matter. You're going to. You're a jock, that's what people like you do. And people like the dork and the hippie fall for it. But me, I won't be part of your fucking tricks"

Mike and Don looked slightly offended by that. I saw the hurt in their eyes. "Would you quit picking on them? We have to work together, and I'm just trying to make the best of it. But it's pretty obvious that you aren't going to work with anyone." I defended them, looking back at the Mike and Don with a slight smile. They seemed to be awestruck, like they didn't expect me to stick up for them or something.

When I looked back at Raph, he was glaring at me. "The name's Raphael. But don't any of you call me that or I'll punch your teeth in?" he turned his head around to all of us, warning us.

"Okay." I smiled. Looks like he would be able to cooperate a little bit. I looked back at the clock. We only had 10 minutes left and we hadn't accomplished anything. "We're running out of time. We have to figure out what we're doing." I reminded them, "Don, what were saying about testing energy sources?"

"We could test the different kinds of energy sources, like batteries or fuel for cars or something like that. We could see what works best." Don explained, "It wouldn't be that hard."

Time was working against up, but we were at least getting somewhere. "Sounds like a good idea, but we are gonna have to meet up later to talk about it more." I said quickly trying to get a plan together.

"Why don't we all go to your house? It's probably huge." Raph sneered. There he goes again assuming that because I'm a jock, I have a big house.

"My house isn't that big, Raph. It's just an average house." I assured him.

"Maybe Don's house would be better anyways. I bet he has all the stupid equipment we'd need to run experiments." Raph laughed, putting his arm around Don again.

"Would you stop stereotyping us, Raph. We could easily stereotype you too." I shook my head, knowing we only had a few minutes left.

"You don't know jack shit about me."

"And you don't know anything about us, so stop." I turned my attention to Don. "Could we meet at your place?" I asked.

"Yeah, I guess." He shrugged his shoulders and scribbled his address down three times on a piece of paper and ripped it out, handing us each a strip.

"I won't be able to come until at least 6 though, I have sports practices." I noticed Raph roll his eyes, making more assumptions in his head. I did my best to ignore it. I looked at the address. It was the house right behind mine. How long has he lived there? How did I not notice? I stuffed the paper into my pocket.

"Okay. Don's place at 6. I'll be there." Mike smiled packing his book bag and standing up. Don did the same and rushed over to Mrs. Vicci's desk, going to have a conversation with her.

I looked at Raph. He threw his feet off the desk and hopped up. "Are you going to be there?" I asked, slinging my book bag over my one shoulder.

"We'll see." He shrugged, his hands in his pockets, intentionally bumping into me when he walked past me. The bell rang before I had time to say anything. I just rolled my eyes and went to my next class.

As the day went on, I noticed the others more and more. I didn't know that I had five other classes with Don. I didn't know that Mike sat at the table next to me at lunch. And I had no idea Raph was in my PE class. I couldn't help but notice them now that I knew them a little bit better.

After my sports practices, I went home to drop off my gear and walked out my back door. It was mind blowing that Don's backyard actually touched mine and I had no idea at all. I went through to the front door and knocked.


	3. Chapter 3

I waited there for a few seconds before the door opened. A younger girl answered the door. She looked to be about 12 and had features similar to Don. I looked down at her and she glared up at me with a face that was half confusion and half anger.

"Who are you?" She asked, rather rudely.

"I'm Leo. Does Don live here?" I asked, starting to question the address. I quickly pulled it out of my pocket and glanced at it again. Yeah, this was the right address.

"You must have the wrong Don. My brother doesn't have any friends. And if he did, he wouldn't bring them here." She shook her head. "Alright, it was nice talking to you." She smiled evilly as she closed the door.

I stood there mostly confused. Does Don live here or not? I then heard the sound of running down the stairs and Don yelling. "Amelia! Who was at the door?" He shouted.

"Oh, no one important." She said back.

"I'm expecting company, Amelia. You can't just close the door on people. Now who was it?" Don shouted even louder. I didn't know that he could scream. I waited outside, hoping he would open the door and let me in. Him and his sister started a full blown argument right there by the door. I could hear everything they were saying. She insisted the door wasn't for him, and he tried to open the door while she blocked it with her smaller frame. I felt very awkward standing there on their porch while they fought.

After a few more minutes, the girl ran away crying after Don shouted mean things about her, using words I didn't know he knew. Don opened the door with a deep blush in his cheeks. "D-did you hear all that?" he asked, scratching his head in an embarrassed fashion. I nodded and he invited me inside. "Sorry about that. It won't happen again. I promise." Don seemed mortified by the whole situation, which was entirely understandable.

"Don't worry about it. No harm done." I half smiled at him. "So, I guess I'm the first one here." I clasped my hands together and rolled onto the balls of my feet, then back on my heels.

"Yeah." Don felt just as awkward as I did. There was no talking for a good five minutes before Don's mother walked into the room.

"Aww, Donnie. Who's your little friend?" His mother seemed just as surprised as his sister.

The blush returned to Don's face very quickly. "Mom. Leo. Leo. My mom." He waved his hands around like an improper introduction.

"Leo. Very nice. You know, Donnie doesn't have many friends come over. It's nice to finally meet one of Don's friends." His mother smiled.

I glanced over at Don for a minute. The look on his face screamed 'smash something really hard against my head' and I laughed a little. I could tell Don had it pretty rough. I decided to cut him some slack and play along, "Yeah, Don and I are good friends. It's so nice to finally visit him at home." I smiled at Don, wrapping my arm around him in a friendly manner.

Don looked at me with confusion, then back at his mother. "Alright, mom. We are going up to my room." He led me up the stairs and into his bedroom, leaning against it to close it. I looked around the room. It had a sci-fi theme to it; covered with Star Wars and Star Trek and other space related stuff. There was a large Yoda poster hanging above his bed that said: "Do or do not. There is no try." I was slightly freaked out, but I contained my laughter and stood in the center of the room, looking at Don who looked like he wanted to kill over in humiliation. He looked up at me, "Why did you do that?" he asked, pushing himself off the door.

"Do what?" I asked, having some idea what he was referring to.

"Why did you say we are friends?" He said. I figured that was what he was talking about.

"I dunno. I felt kinda bad for you I guess." I shrugged and smiled a little.

"You don't have to feel bad for me. I can deal on my own. I don't need you lying to my parents" He rubbed his forehead agitatedly, "Now she's gonna keep asking me when you're coming over again."

I had no idea having a friend come over would be such a big deal. Both to Don and his mother. I'm starting to wonder if he had any friends at all. I see him in school with other nerds, but were they his friends? Or maybe they just did homework together and never saw each other outside the walls of the school. "I am coming over again, you know. We have to keep working on this assignment." I told him, shoving my hands in my pockets.

"Well, you're the only one here, so we can't exactly start working yet." He sat down on the floor and gestured me to sit down as well. I sat across from him and we sat in a long awkward silence. I took this silent opportunity to look around the room some more. He had a bookshelf stocked to the brim with books covering a broad range of topics. Most of them were non-fiction books about space or other science things like that. He had a few books I was familiar with, like the Harry Potter series, and some other books I've read.

I turned my head and looked at his desk. It was simple, covered in text books and binders and other school things which basically smothered his laptop. A few pencils and a huge graphing calculator were also about that organized chaos. On the shelves surrounding his desk were dozens and dozens of trophies and ribbons. That was about the only similarity between his room and mine. But my trophies and ribbons were from sports victories, and his were from chess matches and science fair contests and things like that.

"Thanks for sticking up for me in class today." He said out of absolutely nowhere. I started to forget he was in the room with me before he spoke up.

"What?" I asked, looking at him curiously.

"In class today, you told Raph to leave me alone. I wanted to thank you then, but I didn't know how. So I'm thanking you now." He lifted his head up, his hair still covering most of his eyes.

This kid was really starting to grow on me. Not in a romantic way, in a brotherly kind of way. That way that makes me feel like I owe him something when I really don't owe him anything. He's never done anything for me. I mean, I hardly knew he existed until yesterday, and now I'm constantly feeling indebted to him. I wondered what my real friends would think if they saw me being kind to a guy like Don. I would be out of the loop in a heartbeat.

"You're welcome, I guess. I mean. I don't know you or anything, but you seem like a pretty good guy. And Raph is just an ass…" I let my voice trail off, wondering if I was allowed to curse in his house or not. When there was no offended reaction, I continued on my trail of thought, "and he can't treat you like just a dork. You're more than a dork."

He laughed a little sarcastically, "Thanks. I always thought there was nothing more to me than school and science fiction." He rolled his eyes and put his elbows on his elevated knees.

I gave the room one more obvious look over, clearly judging him for it, "Yeah. I can definitely feel the science fiction." I said trying to remember that really important big Star Wars thing. "The force is strong with this one." I joked.

Don knew I was joking as I made it pretty obvious. "You think it's a little too much?" He rubbed the back of his head, looking at his room through my eyes. I just nodded, not needing to say much more. He stood up and started clearing out some of the excess space junk.

"Hey. I was only joking!" I stood up and stopped him, "You don't have to change anything. I think you have a nice room." He smiled a little and put his things back. As we exchanged a friendly glance, we both heard the sounds of wheels rolling down the sidewalk. I looked out of his window and saw Mike skateboarding up to the house.


	4. Chapter 4

Don ran downstairs to get the door before his sister could get it. I waited upstairs. I could hear Don and Mike talking downstairs. I sat down on the floor waiting for them to come into the room. Mike entered first, holding his skateboard in one hand and a notebook in the other. He sat beside me and stared at me. I wondered why Don hadn't entered behind Mike.

"Where's Don?" I asked, trying not to meet Mike's obsessed gaze.

"Dunno." He shrugged, "He followed his mom into the kitchen after he let me in. He told me to come up here." Mike answered still looking at me. I could tell he wanted to tell me something, or ask me something, or do something.

I leaned back on my elbows and looked up at the ceiling, trying not to think about Mike staring at me. Eventually, when Don didn't come back, I sighed, "Why are you looking at me like that?" I looked at Mike as I talked to him. He looked like he hadn't moved since he sat down.

"I'm just thinking." Mike rolled his skateboard around on the floor.

I started thinking. A dangerous task. Do I dare ask why he has to stare at me while he thinks? "What are you thinking about?" I asked anyways.

"You remind me of a guy that I ran over once." He looked at me more seriously, "…Did I ever run you over on my skateboard?" He pointed.

"Actually, yeah. You did." I smiled, "You knocked me square on my ass." I laughed while I talked.

"Oh." Mike nodded and looked around the room, not saying anything else. Was he actually not going to say anything else about it? He just admitted to running into me, and he's not going to apologize. Okay… "Weather's nice." He announced.

I looked at him confused. Did he just entirely change the subject? I started to realize that Mike may just be the most unpredictable guy I knew. You never know what's going to come out of his mouth. "Yeah. Nice weather." I nodded and looked out the window. The sun was out, that's good, I guess.

"What do you think of this assignment?" He asked next.

I laughed a little, "Can you keep to one topic please?" I asked, "I'm having a little trouble following all of this." I quickly turned my head to move my hair from my eyes.

"Whoa! It is true! Jocks really do flip their hair like that." He pointed out, moving in closer to me and reaching out to touch my hair. "I thought they just did that in the movies." He looked amazed.

"I was just getting my hair out of my eyes." I said leaning back father and turning my head away with my eyes squinted shut. I never liked people touching my head. It's one of my biggest pet peeves. Even the thought of hands coming at my face bothered me.

But Mike was persistent. It was as if he was determined to touch my hair. Like there was no other option. He got up on his knees and tried more ferociously to touch my hair. "Come on, dude. I just wanna see if it's as soft as it looks." He said. How is that reassuring? I laughed as I resisted, not wanting it to seem obvious that I was practically terrified while his hand went towards my face.

And by some external force that happened to be looking out for me and my pet peeves, Don entered the room. "Am I…interrupting?" he asked, closing the door with his foot. Mike cleared his throat and sat back in an Indian style on the floor, shaking his head. "Nope. Nothing at all." He shot me a death glare to show that he was still not through with my hair. Maybe next time, I'll wear a hat, or a bald cap.

"Okay." Don didn't seem convinced. "My mom made us snacks and got us some iced tea to drink." He set a tray down in the middle of our awkward triangle. There was a dish of cookies stacked into a neat pyramid formation and three glasses with a pitcher of iced tea surrounding them. "My mom baked these, so brace yourselves." He chuckled joining us on the floor.

I was the first to daringly grab one of the cookies. I looked at it almost accusingly before taking a bite. The way Don was making it sound I was expecting to lose a tooth or throw up after eating these. But I didn't want to be disrespectful. I bit my teeth into it and it melted into my mouth.

I had never tasted something so delicious. "What are you talking about, Don? These are amazing." I said, savoring every bite.

"You think they're good?" He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before grabbing one himself. Mike grabbed one as well. They both took a bite and their eyes shot open. Don swallowed before speaking, "They don't usually taste like this?" he admitted, "Usually, they are hard as a rock and taste like ash."

Mike and I laughed, "You got any milk? These would go great with milk." Mike said taking another large bite of the cookie.

"Sorry, no. We don't keep milk in the house. My dad is lactose intolerant, and my mom is afraid that my sister and I are too, so we don't keep anything dairy in the house just in case." Don explained.

"Oh." Mike nodded his head and kept on eating. That was familiar to me. I rolled my eyes and silently laughed.

"Can't you get tested or something? Like isn't there a needle that doctors can stick in your back to check if you're allergic to stuff?" I asked. I know I had that done when I was younger to see if I was allergic to anything.

"Yeah, they could. But I can't do that. It's dangerous for me." He started to turn away. Something about his composure told me that he wanted to tell us something, but he didn't want to at the same time.

I asked anyways, "Why is it dangerous, it's just a little needle?"

"I'm a hemophiliac." He admitted.

Mike joined the conversation again. He scooted closer to Don and put his arm around him. "Don't worry, bro. The needles won't judge you for diggin' guys. They aren't gonna hurt you. Just be yourself dude. The needles will understand." I burst out laughing before I could stop it. Mike was a blast.

Don moved away from Mike, "I'm not homosexual, Mike. I'm a hemophiliac!" he looked at Mike. "How do you even confuse those words!?" I could tell he wanted to laugh, too. And eventually he did.

"Hemo-what-iac?" Mike asked, taking off his beanie and scratching his head in a confused way. He again missed a large chunk of the conversation.

I knew it had something to do with blood. I saw it on a TV show once. But I didn't want to say something in case what I thought was wrong, and because I was still laughing too hard to say anything anyways.

"Hemophiliac. It's a genetic disorder that affects my blood. It runs in my family. It makes it hard for me to close up cuts and stuff. If I get stabbed with a needle, there's a good chance the hole won't close for a while and I'll lose a lot of blood." Don explained. I knew it had something to do with blood, "Even paper cuts are bad for me."

I slowed my laughter and started to feel bad for him. "Wow, that sucks." I didn't know what else to say about it. I'm not very good with words.

He looked up at me and smirked, "It's not that bad. I just have to be really careful all the time." He clenched his knees up against his chest.

"So you don't know how to live on the edge?" Mike asked, getting on all fours and into Don's face.

"No. I pretty much just stay in here where I can't get hurt." He put his head on top of his knees.

Mike and I exchanged a dangerous look. The kind of look you make when you are going to do something dangerous. "We'll figure out some way to get you out there." Mike grinned evilly.

Donnie looked up curiously with a tint of fear in his face. I smiled. I was starting to feel a connection with these guys. It seemed Mike had already decided that we would all be friends. Don was coming to the conclusion as well. We sat around and chatted for a while longer until we all remembered the real reason for this occasion.

"Is Raph going to come?" Don asked, "I saw you talking to him after class today. Did he say anything?"

"He just said 'We'll see' when I asked him about coming." I shrugged, "then he bumped into me." I had figured he wasn't going to show up. Raph wanted nothing to do with any of us and it was fairly obvious. We should consider ourselves lucky that he even stayed in the discussion in the classroom.

Mike stood up and looked out the window, "I don't see him. I guess he's a no show." He shrugged and sat back down.

"We should get started then. It's almost 7:30." Don said pulling out all of his science books. Mike grabbed his notebook and I grabbed mine. "Where were we?"


	5. Chapter 5

We sat for a while trying to remember whatever progress we made in class. I knew it had something to do with electricity or something like that. But what he said exactly, I couldn't remember. I had a strong feeling that Don remembered what it was, but he was waiting to see if we could come up with anything else. Personally, as long as I get an A, we could do out project on dog shit and it wouldn't matter. I just need an A.

Okay, maybe a project on dog shit would not be my first choice. But I really didn't care at all what we studied or tested or whatever. Chances are I wouldn't understand it anyways, so why does it matter? I'll do my work, present the project, get an A, and then forget everything we learned. Really, this is pretty pointless. A waste of valuable time.

I looked over at Mike sitting next to me. His face was scrunched up and he was deep in thought. He was trying so hard to remember what we talked about in class. "Don't hurt yourself." I joked with him, laying my hand on his back.

His eyes shot open and he stared at me, dazed. "What?" He asked. His voice seemed like he was to take a drag off a joint right after he spoke. I could feel a cough building up in my throat anticipating the smoke to be blown in my face.

I swallowed the cough and smiled, "Don't hurt yourself thinking. It's not a big deal; we can always come up with something else to do our project on." I glanced at Don, holding the notebook in front of his face with his pencil at the ready.

"I know! We could do something on animals and nature and trees. Maybe the effects that global warming has on animals." Mike blurted out his idea. Clearly one he had wanted to share for a while, but couldn't find the courage to say out loud. Until, now, of course.

Before anyone else could make a remark, another voice joined the conversation. "Jesus, kid, how high are you?"

That was the first that anyone had noticed Raph leaning against the door frame. No one knew how long he had been there, listening to us, watching us. I glared at him. I felt some kind of defensive instinct kick in and immediately after, I knew I had to defend Mike and Don. "Not here for two minutes and you're already giving us a hard time." I shook my head at him.

"I'm not high." Mike's voice murmured in the background of the conversation.

Raph smiled, "It's what I do best. Be thankful I even showed up at all."

"Yeah, two hours late. We agreed on six o'clock and it's almost eight. Is it that hard to take some time out of whatever it is you do to help us out with this project?" I fought back.

He grimaced at me, most like mentally flipping me the bird. His scowl soon changed to a face of amusement. He walked further into the room and stood above our uneven triangle. He reached into his pockets and pulled out some small bag of chips and candy bars, "I got some stuff to munch on while we work. I figured, because Mike is so high, he would need something to snack on." He dropped them into the middle of the triangle.

There was an array of snacks now sitting on the ground. Mike's voice chimed in again, "Again, not high." Raph sat down between Don and Mike and crossed his legs.

I looked at the dumb smirk on Raph's face. "You stole this, didn't you" I stated what all of us were thinking.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. I can't believe you think so lowly of me." He feigned taking offense to my question. Everyone knew he had an attitude that would make him look like a thief. The look on Don's face screamed disgust and horror. He clearly wanted nothing to do with the stolen goods. No one touched the food, but everyone was looking at it. I had a feeling that no one doubted that he paid for this with the five finger discount.

Raph smiled at the awkwardness that he brought about. "So, where are we?" He thought, "Right, Mike's hippie stoner idea." He leaned back on his elbows laughing, "There is no way I'm playing dumbass hippie for the project. I'd rather go back to Juvi than spend time with disgusting fucking animals."

Mike looked offended, as he had a right to be. He looked down at the floor and in sorrow. I could tell that was why he didn't share his idea earlier. Though I would have never offended him like this, and I knew Don would not have either. So many emotions flew through me at that moment. Apathy for Mikey. Disgust and hatred towards Raph. If I could, I would smash his face in. "Can you quit being an ass for five minutes. Just five God damned minutes!" I raised my voice slightly.

"No. I don't think I can." He sighed out, "Now would you quit bullying me? We have a project to work on." Raph thought this was all some game. His jokes were getting old and I really just wanted to smash his face in. I knew that Don and Mike knew he was the real bully, not me. I felt like their guardian, and guard them I would. There was nothing I could do about Raph running his mouth, but I could dish it right back to him.

"Cut the crap, Raph. Let's just get to work so we can be done and I don't have to look at you anymore." I crossed my arms and grabbed my own notebook. I turned my head to look at Don, blocking Raph out completely. "So…electricity and different power sources and how they affect whatever." I recalled from the in-class discussion, "How do we do that?"

Don started to explain how we would go about testing different energy sources. I scribbled down everything that sounded semi-important. The discussion continued, but only Mike, Don and I participated. Raph sat there taking everything in, but not saying anything. I was unsure if he learned that I'm not going to let him win, or if he just ran out of smart ass comments. Whatever the reason, I enjoyed his not being part of the conversation. I felt that, for the first time in 2 hours, we were finally getting some work done.

We managed to get a basic procedure written up before 9:30. We had made plans to meet like this every day until we could work out a better schedule. Mike got up and left first. He had mentioned his curfew was 10:00. We could hear the rolling of the wheels on skateboard moving away from the house. Raph opened his mouth for the first time since our argument an hour earlier. "Thank God the hippies gone. I feel like I lose brain cells every time he's around me."

I was in the process of walking out Don's door when Raph made that comment. I quickly turned around and shot him a glare. "You know what, don't even bother showing up tomorrow. Don doesn't want you here. Mike doesn't want you here. And I sure as hell don't want you here. So just stay away from us." I shook my head disapprovingly before walking out of Don's room. I was sure Raph was close behind me, but I paid him no attention. I had had it with his rude comments.


	6. Chapter 6

Days went by and the project was coming along nicely. Without Raph to interfere with our progress, we were able to be a lot more productive. We managed to all agree on a topic in a matter of minutes the next day. And we even have a full procedure thought up. With the weekend tomorrow, Don is going to get us all the materials we need to actually start testing next week. And with all the time not spent fighting with Raph, I have gotten to know Mike and Don a lot better. They even said they would try to make an appearance at the tomorrow's football game. Mike invited us to his skateboarding competition on Thursday and Don talked about his entry to the science fair.

When football practice ended, I received a text from my friend, Jason: **Game Tomorrow. You coming? **

I smirked, knowing he wasn't talking about going to the game. I hit reply: **7:30?** I sent it and waited for him to respond. My phone buzzed a few seconds later: **See ya there. **

I ran home the usual way – down the main street, into the suburbs, and my house is only a few minutes from the division. I stopped running when I heard the angry snarls of a rabid animal from an alley way on the main street. I looked around and saw nothing but the beady bloodshot eyes of the creature before if jumped out of the darkness and on top of me.

I fought with it as it tried to bite me, getting a few painful scratches on my arms and face. I was only under for maybe a minute before the dog was pulled off my being by its collar. Collar? It had a collar? This aggressive beast belonged to someone?

"Spike!" A familiar voice shouted at what I could now tell was a Rottweiler. Raph? This is Raph's dog? No wonder it's so aggressive. Look at who's been raising him. "What have a told you? Stay in the alley. I've told you over a million times." Raph shouted at the dog as if it could understand.

I wiped my face and looked over the blood dripping from above my eye and below my nose before standing up off the sidewalk. I picked up my book bag and slung it over my one shoulder. "Raph," I looked at him for the first time, gripping the collar so tightly the dog's front paws were airborne.

He was obviously embarrassed. "Leo." He replied. I looked around the area. No apartment building. No townhomes. Nowhere he could have possibly lived. I took another look at him. The dog had no leash. No evidence the dog was out on a walk. I became curious. "What the hell you starin' at?" Raph snarled back at me, holding his dog back from lunging onto me again.

"You know, your dog just attacked me. The least you could do is apologize." I shook my head, a few drops of blood dripping from the tip of my nose to the pavement.

"Shut up, Leo. I won't apologize. No crime committed. Spike don't got no rabies or anything. So just go." Raph walked back into the alley, the dog at his side.

I felt inclined to follow them into the alley even though it was obvious I was not wanted, "What are you doing in here?" I asked, having a slight idea of my own.

"What's it to you. I said go." Raph replied, sitting back down leaning up against the wall of the Laundromat, Spike lying in front of his feet.

"You live here or something?" I asked jovially, knowing that question could go one of two ways. He would either kill me himself, or let his dog chase me out of town.

"I told you to leave me the fuck alone." Raph replied with a crack in his voice as he rubbed Spike's underside.

"I just want to know." There was no reply from Raph for a while. I figured I was correct in my assumption. "If you want somewhere to live, you could stay with me for a while. We have an extra room, and plenty of space out back for your dog to run around." I offered; trying to compensate for whatever emotional damage my questioning may have caused, but it was Raph, I thought he couldn't feel emotion. There was still no reply from Raph, and it was too dark to tell if he was angry, upset, or I would even go with asleep at this point. I sighed and pulled my notebook out of my bag. I scribbled down my address to the best of my ability without better lighting and threw it in his general direction. "If you change your mind, come find me." I shook my head, running home.

When I arrived home, my mother noticed my scratches, "Leonardo. What happened to you?" She shouted angrily. As if it was my fault.

I shook my head at her and went upstairs, "I got attacked by a dog. Don't worry about it." I didn't usually act so disrespectful to my mom, but I had too much on my mind to deal with her shit now too.

I rushed to the bathroom. I washed the remainder of drying blood off my arms and face and did my best to conceal the scars, but to little avail. I readied myself for the party that night. When I opened the door to leave, I jumped back a little. Not in fear but in surprise.

Raph stood at my doorway silently. I never in a million years would have expected he would agree to stay in my house. Especially not after I had just told him he was basically worthless a few days ago. But I said he could stay, and I guess that means I meant it.

I invited him inside, and his dog to the fenced backyard. He had little with him. The clothes on his back and a hobo's luggage stick. I took him upstairs to the guest bedroom and told him to get comfortable, that I'd be back in a bit. I said after I closed the door to his room. "Guess I'm missing that party" I mumbled to myself, walking back down to my room.

I returned to his room with armfuls of clothing that would probably fit him. We were similar in size, height, and tone. I figured he would be able to wear my clothing. At least the stuff I don't wear anymore. "Feel free to wear whatever you want. What's mine is yours." I smiled faintly at him.

"My parents kicked me out." He opened his mouth for the first time since entering my house. "A few months ago. I've lived in that alley way since. I was a beggar for a while, sitting out on the road to collect any coins anyone would spare. Then Spike ran into me. He was just a pup, barely could walk right. I took him in, made him my number one priority. Any money I had went to making sure he was alright and taken care of." He continued the story of how his parents were abusive. They kicked him out after he fought back. He talked out his trips to Juvi and his time as a beggar and his connection to that demon pet of his in great detail. And I listened. I listened attentively, sitting right beside him on the bed collecting every single syllable he said.

"I'm sorry to hear all that," was all I was able to say at the end of his unfortunate monologue. His sob story.

"Then I got paired with you and Don and Mike on that dumb science project. I didn't want you guys to know the truth, so I out casted myself, hoping we would never have to do the work at my house. Because I don't have one. I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore, though. Since you guys kicked me out of the project." He explained, with no emotion at all. No regret, no pity. No positive, no negative. Nothing but plain words, as if telling a story he was not interested in, but at the same time not disinterested. Yet even though he showed none, I had a hard time believing that he was not hurt by being neglected.

I laughed half-heartedly, "You were kinda being a jerk to them." I admitted. He glared at me in response. "Come on, you don't think you were giving them a hard time. You give everyone a hard time."

"Only people that piss me off." He replied seriously.

"What did Mike and Don do to piss you off? You hadn't known them for five seconds before you started tormenting them because of who they are."

"I was doing the same thing to them as you all did to me. I saw how they look at me like I'm some kind of murderer. Two can play at that game. And I can play better." Raph stood up off the bed and went into the bathroom attached to the bedroom. His own so no one bothered him, and more importantly, he bothered no one.

I left the guest room and went back to my own. It was almost 8:30 now and the real party was probably getting underway. I checked my phone to realize Jason had texted me again. **Man, where are you? The cheerleaders are here…topless.** He went on to attach a graphic image as if to make me get there faster.

**Can't make it. Not feeling good. Shit to do.** I replied. I couldn't tell that I was actually sharing my house with Raph.


	7. Chapter 7

Part of me could tell that Jason knew I wasn't being entirely honest. **Alright, feel better or whatever. Are you gonna be at the game tomorrow?** He responded

**For sure. I can't miss the game. Coach would kill me.** I answered back.

**LOL yeah. Alright, we'll drink in your honor tonight. See you tomorrow.** I put my phone on my side table. That's typically where any conversation would end. I rested on my bed thinking about how I was going to keep my new housemate from my friends. No sooner did I start to drift off before my mother called my name from downstairs. I groaned and forced myself up and downstairs. What could she want now? I asked myself.

"Who's your friend, Leo?" she asked quietly, drying dishes in the kitchen.

"He's a guy from school. He's going to be staying with us for a while." I replied. I could see the look on my mother's face was disapproving, "Mom, he's homeless. He needs a place to stay for a while."

Her attitude changed almost instantly, "Well, in that case, he's welcome to stay as long as he wants. Go ask him what he wants for dinner. Your father will be home soon." She pushed me out of the kitchen.

I went upstairs and back into the guest room. I knocked on the door and waited a few seconds before opening it. Raph was relaxing on the bed, barely awake. "Do you want anything to eat?" I asked bluntly.

He hoisted himself off the bed and sat off the edge, "I don't want to be any trouble." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"You won't be. It's just me, my mom, and my dad. You're no trouble at all. Now come downstairs for dinner." I encouraged him, as much as it pained me to be kind to him.

He stood off the bed and followed me downstairs where my mother had the table set for four. I hadn't seen it like that since my older sister left to study abroad two years ago. Raph sat down across from me, my father and mother on either side of him. My father sent me a few glares of concern, all of which went unnoticed by Raph.

Dinner was silent, the clanking of metal utensils hitting the ceramic dishes. After he finished eating, Raph thanked my family for the meal and went back upstairs. My father looked at me, "Care to explain?" He said simply, putting his fork down and wiping his face with a napkin.

"He's a friend of mine. He needs a place to stay, he's homeless." I explained, "Dad, I can't just let him live on the streets." I expected some kind of refute from him. He had never taken kindly to house guests.

My dad looked at me, "He looks like trouble, and you know- "

I cut him off before he could finish his sentence, "He won't be. I promise." I looked at my mom, who I knew was on my side. She was looking at my dad, caringly.

My dad looked at my mom, and sighed in defeat. "Alright, he can stay." He announced. "But at the first sign of trouble, he's gone, you understand." He affirmed that I got the message.

"Understood. Thank you." I cleared Raph's dish and my own and went back upstairs to my room.

A while later, I heard my parents go to bed. I stayed awake, preparing for tomorrow's game, texting Jason to see what kind of fun I was missing out. Later, when I was ready to go to bed, Raph knocked on my door. I let him in and we sat down on my bed together.

"Your dad thinks I'm a bad influence. He's right." He laughed a little.

"Look. I'm giving you a place to live; the least you could do is try to get along with my parents. It took some time to buy my dad on the idea of having you stay."

"I know. I heard." He replied. "He was right, you know. I am a pretty bad influence on a preppy kid like you."

"I told him he was wrong. I promised him you'd behave." I whispered angrily, "Can't you be at least a little bit appreciative of what I'm trying to do for you."

"I still don't get why you-you let me stay here. You don't like me. Your kind and my kind don't mix." He insisted.

"Why does it always have to be about kinds with you? I know you aren't only the kind of person that hurts and disappoints people. The story you told me, about your dog, you douchebag you wouldn't have cared about a stray dog like you did. You don't have to be a douchebag all the time." I explained to him, "You can be nice." I tried to make a joke about it, smiling half-heartedly.

"Where's the fun in that?" Raph joked back, standing off the bed and heading towards the door.

I laughed a little, "Just…think about it." I nodded my head before he left, "Night." He closed the door.

"Night," I heard hushed from down the hall. I smiled; maybe he wasn't such a douche after all.

The next day, I slipped out of the house early for pre-game practice. I didn't talk to anybody, I didn't see anybody. I went in to check on Raph, but he was sound asleep when I went in. So I left and went to practice.

I was the first one there, as was the duty of the quarterback, and I waited for the rest of my team to show up. Jason, number 27, star running back, was the next to arrive. He greeted me in the locker room, "Feeling better?" He asked, punching my shoulder.

"It's no use lying, is it?" I rubbed my shoulder and laughed a little.

"Nope. Not at all," he nodded, "Mind telling me why you couldn't come. For real this time."

"My family needed me."

"What, the mother that doesn't give a shit about what you do and the father that doesn't come home until 9:00. Strike two, Leo," he punched me again, "Wanna go for three"

I rubbed my shoulder again, "Not really."

"Then no more of your bull shit. The rest of the team will be here soon." Jason extended his fingers as if to prepare them to punch me again.

"I was working on that science project with Do- I mean, the nerd and junkie." I wasn't supposed to become friends with them, or know their names. But it still hurt me that I had to refer to them that way. They are not what we have them labeled as.

Jason nodded, "Why didn't you say that in the first place?" He gripped my shoulder pads smiling giddily.

"I didn't want you to know I bailed on the party to work with those two." I was still lying to him. I guess I'd rather be known to be with Don and Mike than with Raph.

The rest of the team started to arrive. We ran drills and not long after, the game started to get underway. Before I knew it, it was half time. When we lined up to start the third quarter, "I looked out into the home crowd. I saw Don and Mike sitting next to each other, blending into the crowd. I smiled knowing that they had actually shown up. I knew this kind of environment was not their niche.

I continued to scan the crowd. Another individual caught my eye: Raph. I smirked a little. He never said he was coming. Maybe he was going off what I told him last night.

The whistle blew and I called out the play. The game continued. Touchdown after touchdown after touchdown. Our plays were flawless. Those North High Panthers didn't stand a chance. It came to the last quarter; we were so tired of scoring that we just passed the ball between teammates when it was in our possession. The game ended shortly after. All the players and I went to the locker room to get changed. I accepted my compliments and slipped out before showering. I wanted to see Don and Mike, my friends, before they left the field.

I ran out to them, calling their names, assured by the fat that all my teammates were still in the locker room. I saw them heading out together, and caught them just in time. "Don! Mike!" I called.

They turned and looked at me, "Leo." They smiled and said in unison. "Great game." Mike congratulated me, "You were really on a roll." We chatted a while longer, just to make conversation, when Raph came up behind me.

"Hey guys." He greeted me, Mike, and Don. "That was some great football out there Leo."

I could tell by the looks on Don and Mike's faces that they were taken aback. They hadn't talked to Raph since the fight at Don's house. I smiled at him, "Thanks. And thanks for coming."

"Sure thing." He rubbed the back of his neck, "Listen, Mike. Don. I want to apologize. I've been a real asshole, and I'm sorry. I was wondering if I could get back on the science project group." He half smiled the best he could.


	8. Chapter 8

Don and Mike looked skeptically at each other, then to me, to Raph, and back at each other. They both had taken the brunt of Raph's torment, and letting him back in was clearly a difficult decision. I tried my hardest to look at them to sway their opinions without actually saying anything. Raph, surprisingly, stood waiting patiently for an answer.

After a while longer of silence and deep thought, Donnie looked up at Raph, "What made you change your attitude?" He asked, questioning the permanence of Raph's new behavior.

"A fella once told me that I don't have to be douchebag all the time." Raph stopped to take a breath, but before he could finish his statement, Mike cut him off.

"So you're still going to be a douchebag sometimes?" Mike asked, rolling his eyes.

"Not to you guys." Raph quickly responded.

Don and Mike looked back at each other. They both pulled me aside, out of Raph's earshot. "What's going on?" Don asked.

"Listen, I think we should give Raph another shot. I really think he has changed." I fought for Raph.

"What tells you that?" Don asked another question. He was clearly not on board with the idea, but he didn't want to be the one to tell Raph no.

"He's here, isn't he? That has to count for something." They didn't seem to agree, so I tried an alternative tactic. Empathy. "He's living in my house. Because his dog attacked me, and I found out that his parents kicked him out and he'd been living on the street. Collecting money like a beggar. I felt bad for him, so I invited him to stay with me. And so he came to my house, and he's living in my guest room." My appeal to emotion didn't seem to be having an effect on them. Maybe their hurt from Raph's word outweighs their emotion. "And I talked to him last night. I told him to stop being a douchebag, and now here he is, apologizing, and asking to help us with the project. How can you turn him away? He's trying so hard."

"Are you forgetting what he said about us," Don spoke for both himself and Mike. "How are we going to just forget about it? How can I just let him back into my house?"

"We can start working at my house if you don't want him in your house; just…give him a chance." I begged.

I'm sure Don had some kind of witty and snide comment to follow, but our conversation was interrupted.

"Hey Leo," Jason called. I turned my head around to see my team huddling around the 20 yard line, all looking at me. The rest of the field and the bleachers were empty. It was just the four of us and my teammates. "What are you doing over there? Get your ass over here where you belong." Jason motioned me over.

"I'll be there in a sec." I shouted back. I turned my attention back to Don and Mike and continued my conversation with them.

After only a few seconds of waiting, Jason had left the group to come over to me. When I looked back, the rest of the team had started to walk away. He put his hand on my shoulder and gripped it, "Leo, these freaks can wait. We have a party to go to. We won, you know what that means?" He nudged me.

"I don't want to go to the party." I resisted, "And these guys aren't freaks, they're my friends." I defended them.

"Man, this stupid science project has warped your brain. What's the nerd been telling you, huh? They can't be your friends. You're too good for them." Jason tried to pull me away. I looked sympathetically at Mike and Don. I could tell they were hurt to know what my friends really thought about them. I wanted to convey to them that I was trying.

"No, Jason, you're wrong. These are my friends, and he's not a nerd, his name's Don." I fought his grip. He had always been just a little bit stronger than me.

"I don't care what his name is. And you know you don't either. He's not one of us, which means he's not worth your time. Why doesn't he just finish the project himself. What good are you, the pothead, and the delinquent to him anyways?"

"Jason, shut the fuck up!" I was clearly angry with him. I turned and swung my fist at his face. He seemed to expect it though, as he caught my fist and threw me down to the ground.

He started wailing on me, "Don't you ever raise your hand to me again, Leonardo. You may be the 'all-star' quarter back, but I can kick your ass any day." I had known Jason had anger issues, but I never thought he would act that way to me. I tried to fight back, but it was no use, he had the upper hand here. My main focus was protecting my face, which was also no use.

"Hey!" Raph ran over and nailed him in the face, sending him falling to the pavement. He helped me up, and I made my way over to Don and Mike. "You better watch your fucking back, asshole. Those are my friends you're talking about, and if you still wanna pick on them, you're gonna have to go through me first." Raph spat out at him before sending another blow to Jason.

Jason stood up off the ground, holding his jaw. "Alright, Leo, you've made your choice. Now you can fucking live with it on your own." He left the field.

I was barely able to stand; I was in so much pain. "Here, Leo, let's get you over to the bleachers." Don aided me to the stairs and I sat down. I could feel myself losing consciousness. "Leo, your arm," Don said, "Can you move it."

My arm had been pressed against my chest. I tried putting it down, and shouted out in pain. "No." I shook my head, sending drops of blood onto the bleachers.

Don took another closer look at it, "It may be broken." He said, unfortunately.

"What do you mean broken?" I looked at him in terror. I could not break a bone, not this close to the championship game. Whether or not Jason and I were friends wasn't going to keep me from the football team. "You have to be wrong. It doesn't hurt that bad." I moved my arm again, biting my tongue on how much it hurt me.

"Leo, you have to go to the hospital." Don insisted, forcing me to stop moving my arm.

Mike pulled out his cell phone, "Do you want me to call your parents?" he asked, already unlocking his phone and getting the dial pad ready.

"No, thank you, Mike. I don't need my parents getting involved," I shook my head. I sighed, "But maybe I should go to the hospital." I admitted. As much as I did not want to believe my arm was broken, I knew Don was right in that it needed to be checked.

Raph rushed over to the bleachers, "Is he okay?" He asked. Don started to explain to Raph that I needed to be taken to the hospital. I was only listening for a few seconds before I finally passed out.

I woke up some time later in hospital bed, my arm suspended in a sling. I looked around groggily. Don, Mike, and Raph were all standing around me. "Hey, Leo. You're alright." Mike cheered.

"What happened," I asked, rubbing my forehead.

"You're at the hospital. After you passed out, we rushed here. They tied up your arm and took care of a few other things. They said once you woke up, you could go home." Don explained.

I nodded, only understanding part of what he was saying. I lifted myself out of the bed and Raph was quick to help me the rest of the way. I smiled, "Thanks."

Raph smiled back, "Let's get you home." He looked back at Don and Mike. The four of us left the hospital and went back to my house. Both of my parents were not home, so we just slipped in and went up to my room. I laid down in my bed, still a little disoriented.

"We're sorry. It's our fault you broke your arm. If we would have just left and not stayed to chat…" Don started to say

"No, it's not your fault." I reassured them. I recalled the anger of the moment. Not for one second did I wish I wouldn't have stopped Mike and Don. I looked over at Raph, "Why did you get involved?" I asked him

"He was beating you up. I couldn't just stand around and do nothing." Raph shrugged.

"Did you mean what you said," Mike asked, "About us being your friends."

Raph blushed a little, "Well yeah. I mean, if that's okay with you guys. You probably don't wanna be my friend, but I'd be willing to give it a shoot." He looked around my room as he spoke, avoiding anything that could be considered eye contact.

Don and Mike looked at each other and nodded in agreement. Don smiled at Raph, "Alright, Raph." He embraced him a little, "Welcome back to the science project."


	9. Chapter 9

Raph smirked, trying not to look overly excited, "You mean it? I mean, if you guys don't want me around…"

"We do," Mike reassured him quickly, before Raph even had time to finish his statement. "What you did for Leo today…that was pretty cool. It's real cool that you'll stick up for us." He finished.

Raph's face turned to a light crimson color, "It's what friends do, I guess" I guessed he was not used to having nice things said about him.

"It was still cool," Don grinned in agreement. Small conversation continued as we sat in my room. Don caught Raph up on the progress made with the project, of which Raph understood very little. Heck, I had helped with the project and I didn't know what Don was saying.

After a long while, Mike and Don had gone home. Raph and I were sitting alone in my room with little to nothing to talk about.

"Does it hurt," Raph asked

"No."

"Good." Simple conversation continues in that manner until my mom arrived home.

She called me down to ask about the game and the rest of my day, of course to shove food down my throat figuring I hadn't eaten all day. When she saw my arm, she was a mixture of alarmed and confused. "Why didn't you call me?" "Who took you to the hospital?" "How did this happen?"

"I didn't want to worry you, Raph, Mike and Don, and" I stopped. Did I really want to tell her this is because Jason basically used me as a piñata for his foot? "…I fell during the game." Quickly, I conjured up a believable lie.

"Do you want some painkillers, maybe an ice pack, your wrist looks swollen." She commented, trying to sooth any discomfort I may have been having.

"No, mom. It's fine." I pulled away, "It doesn't hurt that much anymore, and Don said the swelling will go down on its own."

"Who is this Don anyway, is he a doctor?" She asked.

"Pretty close to it," I mumbled incoherently, "I'll see you later," and with that, I made an escape to my room.

"Aren't you hungry, what about Raph, is he hungry." She raised her voice to relay it to me, already running up the stairs.

"No, we're good. Thanks though." I went back into my room to see that Raph had gone back to his. Smiling, I fell back down onto the bed to call it a night. The day had certainly had it's up and downs, and I was ready to end it.

The next day, we all met up early to work on the project. We met at 9, and didn't part ways until after 6 o'clock. Though, not very much science was accomplished. Raph turned out to be more helpful than we all thought he would be. He seemed to have some kind of idea of what we were doing, which impressed us all seeing as we, well I, had kicked him out before we actually knew what we were doing. And we did spend some time, actually most time, getting to know Raph a little better. Turns out he's a black belt in taekwondo, which also does not surprise me. The way he attacked Jason proved he had some experience in the field of defense. He neglected, probably purposely, to talk about his family. He did mention vaguely that he hasn't seen them since they kicked him out; but nothing more, and he only just slipped it into conversation.

"You could have told us, you know. We wouldn't have said anything." Mike offered acceptance.

Raph shifted uncomfortably, "I don't like to talk about it." He looked at each of us, "Now, come on, we have a lot of work to do." He stood up and grabbed some of Don's equipment. "So we just gotta calculate the work on this power source, right, then we find the heat or something, and we can get energy from that." Raph restated what he thought he knew about the objective of the assignment.

Don sighed, "Yeah, but we have to do that for every power source, and we have about a dozen sources of energy to test. We are gonna have to look up the heat capacity for a bunch of these conductors; I don't know them off the top of my head."

I laughed a little, "Something you don't know?" I smirked.

"You think I have everything crammed into my head, are you crazy. I have a life too, you know." He smiled back at me.

Raph put the conductors down and walked over to where Don was standing. Now that the conversation wasn't aimed at him, he was less interested in the experiment. "I'll believe it when I see it. What do you do when you're not doing homework?" He asked.

"Well, I…uh. Um, well, you see…" Don stuttered, I rolled my eyes, doubting the validity of his "life"

"Spit it out Don, we're waiting." Mike encouraged him.

"I have a girlfriend." He blurted out, almost too quickly to understand. He took a deep breath following the statement.

At first, I was slightly jealous. I never had time for a real girlfriend, just simple high school relationships that never actually leave the school. But Don had a girlfriend, and straight A's. It didn't make sense.

Mike looked at Don, "Was that some kind of secret?" He asked.

Don sighed, "I just…I didn't want you guys to know…just yet."

"Why not? It's good." Raph hit Don's back, sending Don jolting forward a bit, "Too much school can melt your brain," I assumed he was making a stab at the project we should have been working on.

"I thought you guys would laugh at me, you know." He emotionally back away.

"Why would we laugh at you, that's awesome." I smiled. So what if I didn't have time for a girl, I play three sports. It's still good for Don. "Does she go to our school?" I asked, curiously.

Don nodded, "She's in our grade. Jasmine." We all looked back at him with blank stares. "She's the president of the chemistry club." Still nothing. "Editor of the school paper?" _Who reads the school paper? _I thought to myself. "Star mathlete?" He tried again.

"We have mathletes?" Mike asked, truly shocked by the fact there's a club for people good at math.

Don shook his head a little, "Yeah, we meet every Wednesday after school." He explained, "But that's beside the point. None of you know who she is?" he asked.

Everyone was silent for a moment, "To be totally honest, I didn't know who you were until we started this assignment." Raph shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't wrong, and I'm almost certain he spoke for all of us.

Don nodded, "Fair enough." He started flipping through his phone. He turned it around to show us a picture of her.

"I know her," I announced, "She's always in the gym helping clean up."

"And the library helping put away returned books." Mike added.

"And the office." Raph smiled, "Yeah, I know her. She always gives me a stupid look and rolls her eyes when I walk in." he recollected, "Lucky you, she's hot."

Don blushed, not sure how to respond to that. I knew he was into her for her brains, not her body. But Raph wasn't wrong. "She plays tennis too, right?" I asked, taking some tension out of the conversation.

Don nodded. He spent the next few hours raving on and on about her and all her accomplishments and how amazing she is. It took us until we all left. I was happy that Don didn't just spend all of his time on schoolwork, even if all he does with Jasmine is schoolwork.

The next day at school, I went to my locker when I arrived. I found it difficult to open with only one hand, and even harder to grab my textbooks. I was going to go to the library to meet Don after I picked up my morning books. When I slammed my locker shut, I found Jason standing on the other side, leaning on the lockers beside mine. I stood waiting to see if he said anything.

He looked at my arm suspended in a sling casted tightly in plaster or whatever. "Did I do that?" He asked.

I simply nodded in response. "Sorry," He replied, "You know, my temper." He put his hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah." I tried to stay as cold as possible.

"I'm sorry about what I said on Saturday. Why don't you come back to the group with me, our kind, and we can forget everything you said about those guys." He pushed me along, "You were just tired from the game."

"I know what I said, Jason. And I meant it." I stopped walking, "Those guys are my friends. Whether you are okay with it or not."

"Leo, we've talked about this." He looked at me.

"Raph, the one that punched you, lives in my house, in the guest room." I admitted, smiling, enjoying having the slightest upper hand for once.

He stood dumbfounded in the middle of the hallway. I walked away, to the library, where Don sat working on some homework. Mike met us in the library shortly after, and a little after that Raph showed up. The four of us sat around one table, earning some confused glares from people in the library. I thought it would be uncomfortable, I had always been idolized, the guy everyone wanted to be, and now people are looking at me weird. But it felt right. Like I belonged with these three.

Jason didn't stop pestering me into rejoining that group. And sometimes I did talk to them, sit with them, but nothing would be prefect until Jason understood that I can be part of two groups.

Thursday after school, Don, Raph, and I all went to Mike's house. He had his skateboarding competition, and he wanted us to come. I had no choice, as he came to my game on Saturday. I had no idea previously of where Mike lived, but as we kept walking, I knew it was not close to the school at all. I was surprised he even lived in the district with how far away from town he lived.

When we arrived at his house, he invited us inside. His house was small, but still comfortable. It was a townhome, neighbors very close on both sides. We had some time to kill before we had to be at the skate park, conveniently only down the street from Mike's house. He showed us his collection of skateboards and wheels and decks and whatnot. We all watched as he set up the board he was going to use to compete. He had safety gear to match the colors of each of his boards. When his board was ready, he showed us the backyard, which was just a skateboarding course, complete with a relatively large half pipe.

"Where do you get all this stuff?" Raph asked what I was thinking.

"I built it, the course and most of the boards, some I bought, but only the really nice ones that I never ride." He said proudly.

I looked again at the half pipe, "You built that?" I pointed at it.

Mike nodded, "Yeah, it wasn't that hard. It only took me three months to finish."

I never knew Mike took his skateboarding so seriously. I thought it was just a hobby, but clearly it's a lifestyle. Each board has intricate designs, color coordinated. It's all so…organized.

He started to practice some of his tricks. I wasn't sure if he was doing it to practice, or if it was to show off. But whatever the reason, he won my respect. I hadn't been on a skateboard since I was a kid, and even then I couldn't do 10% of what Mike could do. He had spent some serious time and concentration on this.

I complimented him when he stopped the board and ran back over to where we were standing on the back porch. "Thanks Leo." He smiled, "I could teach you some if you'd like. I've got extra boards." He laughed and looked at Raph and Don, "I could teach all of you."

We agreed to, at some point, take a lesson. Mike smiled before checking the time. 'Shit. We gotta go," He hopped on his board and skated down to the skate park.


End file.
